Echinochloa frumentacea
| Echinochloa frumentacea | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 6' |
| Width: | 0.5' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Echinochloa frumentacea (common name: japanese millet)
Propagation: Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer.
A sowing in situ in late spring might also succeed but is unlikely to ripen a crop of seed if the summer is cool and wet.
Cultivation: Prefers a rich moist soil[1] but succeeds in ordinary garden soil[2].
Japanese millet is sometimes cultivated in India and E. Asia for its edible seed, especially in areas where rice will not grow. There are some named varieties[2][3][4][5]. Plants can produce a crop of seeds within 6 weeks of sowing in warmer areas of the world[6][7] but obtaining a reasonable crop is more problematic in the cooler summers of Britain. The plants need to be started off early in a greenhouse in order to give sufficient growing time. They are also more likely to succeed in the eastern side of the country where the summers are usually warmer and drier.
Range: Native habitat unknown, possibly derived in cultivation from E. crus-galli.
Habitat: Not known in a truly wild situation.
Edibility: Seed - cooked and used as a millet. The seed can be cooked whole or can be ground into a flour[2][8][3][9][10][5]. Usually eaten as a porridge[7]. The seed contains about 72.5% starch, 3.12% fat, 11.8% protein, 2.65% ash[6].
Medicinal: The plant is useful in the treatment of biliousness and constipation[11].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
Seed Ripens: Early Fall-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Panicum frumentacea.
Links
References
- ↑ Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Komarov, Vladimir. Flora of the USSR. Gantner Verlag, 1968.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hill, Albert. Economic Botany. The Maple Press, 1952.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Schery. Robert. Plants for Man. Prentice Hall, 1972.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Brouk, Bohuslav. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press, 1975.
- ↑ Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.